Updates, advisories and surprises

(9:57 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Nabors Industries
NBR, -1.08%
said late Thursday it received an informal inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to personal benefits received by officers and directors of the company, including their use of non-commercial aircraft. The company said it's cooperating with the SEC. In June, the Wall Street Journal reported a Nabors company jet rang up about $700,000 worth of flights in 2009 and 2010 while stopping in Palm Beach, Fla, and Martha's Vineyard, Mass., both spots where Nabors Chairman Eugene Isenberg keeps residences. The Journal said Nabors did not respond to a request for comment late Thursday.

Dillard's profit increases by 85%

(8:17 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Dillard's Inc.
DDS, +0.60%
said Friday its third-quarter profit jumped 85% to $26.6 million, or 50 cents a share, from $14.4 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The latest quarter includes a one-time gain of 2 cents a share. The company's sales moved up to $1.38 billion, from $1.34 billion. Wall Street analysts expected Dillard's to earn 32 cents a share, on sales of $1.36 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research. "Our 5% comparable store sales performance provided strong income momentum as we maintained gross margin and leveraged our operating expenses," the Little Rock, Ark.-based retailer said.

Brookfield Asset profit more than doubles in 3Q

(8:03 AM ET) WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
BAM, +0.15%
said Friday its third-quarter profit rose to $716 million, or 36 cents a share, from $342 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research were looking for earnings of 19 cents a share, on average. Shares for the Toronto, Ontario-based manager of renewable power and infrastructure assets had yet to trade premarket.

D.R. Horton swing to profit, backlog grows

(7:21 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Home builder D.R. Horton
DRH, -1.71%
said Friday it earned $35.7 million, or 11 cents a share, in its fourth quarter, compared to a loss of $8.9 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased to $1.1 billion, from $926 million. Wall Street analysts expected D.R. Horton to earn 14 cents a share on revenue of $1.1 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research. Looking ahead, D.R. Horton said its sales backlog as of Sept. 30 increased to 4,854 homes from 4,128 homes, positioning the company for a stronger start to fiscal 2012. D.R. Horton said it expects to be profitable in 2012. Analysts expect the company to earn 51 cents a share in the coming fiscal year.

IAG targets profit of €1.5 billion in 2015

(2:34 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- International Consolidated Airlines Group SA(UK:IAG)on Friday said it's targeting an operating profit of around €1.5 billion ($2 billion) for 2015, in a statement released by the company. It plans to achieve this via an increase from €400 million to €450 million in annual savings targets from year five, structural profit improvements of €400 million and organic growth of €150 million. Based on current spot fuel prices, IAG said it expects around 14% growth in unit fuel costs and costs ex-fuel to be flat. It plans to grow capacity by 2.5%.

Allianz net profit hit by Greek write-downs

(2:25 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- German insurer Allianz SE(DE:ALV)on Friday reported an 84% drop in third-quarter net profit, as it took impairments of €931 million ($1.27 billion) related to investments in the financial sector and Greek debt. Allianz also said its tax rate surged to 60%, up from 34.4% in the year-ago period. Third-quarter net profit fell to €196 million against €1.26 billion in the year-ago period. Total revenue fell 1.8% to €24.07 billion against €24.52 billion. A survey of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast net profit of €600 million on revenue of €24.1 billion. Oliver Bäte, chief financial officer of Allianz SE, said the group is "well able" to withstand uncertainty and high volatility of capital marekts right now. "We remain committed to achieving our operating profit target for 2011 of €8.0 billion, plus or minus €500 million."

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